Water chip
|footer = In-game art }} The water purification control chip is the cornerstone of the Vault-Tec Corporation's water purification systems installed in vaults. Background The chip that controls the system is a fine example of 21st century electronics. It is a large circuit board with embedded vacuum tubes that regulates the filtration systems inside the water purifier and monitors the output for signs of contamination.Kane: "{156}{}{A water chip? Never heard of it, we only sell drinks. Go see Bob's Iguana Bits, if you're hungry.}" The Vault Dweller: "{157}{}{It's an electronic device that regulates the filtering system of a water purifier and monitors the output for any contamination. Mine's broken and I'm looking for a replacement.}" (KANE.MSG)PRO ITEM.MSG (Fallout): "{5500}{}{Water Chip}" "{5501}{}{A water purification control computer system chip. Looks suprisingly like the chip that your Vault needs.}" While the water chip can be jury-rigged for small scale water purification,Vault 101 terminals: "Experiment PP216: After "borrowing" a few more water chips and rerouting some of the power here in the clinic, I've finally been able to affect the latest sample. It's not much, but considering what I have to work with it, a definite step in the right direction." it is specifically designed to interface with vault water computers (via a specific slot and jack; the chip still requires independent power supply through its own cord), making it useless for large scale water purification without a vault.The Vault Dweller: "{104}{}{Do you have a water chip?}" Martha Rastello: "{112}{}{Water chip... hmm. Oh, those old Vault purifying control chips. Well, I'm sure I speak for the entire town when I say you won't find one here. Without the proper equipment they're worthless. Only a Vault, or maybe Necropolis would have any use for one. Why do you ask?}" (MSTMERCH.MSG) While it is theoretically designed to last, the chips were manufactured by a low-bid contractor, resulting in poor quality and a high failure rate. Such was the case with Vault 13 in 2161, made worse by the fact that the process was too complicated for a workaround system.The Vault Dweller: "{105}{}{Do you have a water chip?}" Paul: "{134}{}{A Water Chip? The ones from the old Vault-Tec shelters?}" The Vault Dweller: "{135}{}{Yes!.. Do you have one?}" "{136}{}{No. Those things were junk, they were prone to failure. We don’t deal with purifying our own water here. We have water delivered by caravans from the Hub.}" (PAUL.MSG) They also came in boxes with five chips each.PRO ITEM.MSG (Fallout 2): "{5500}{}{Water Chip}" "{5501}{}{This is a Vault-Tec water chip. They are typically packaged in groups of five to a box.}" However, the chips are interchangeable and work in any vault water computer, they just require a self-test and reboot after connecting.Jacoren: "{156}{Over_31}{Okey-dokey. One moment, the chip is initializing. Here - here - here - There it goes . . . Self-test is green . . . re-boot is good . . . Hah! It's working! And it looks like we have a winner! Haha! overseer sighs with relief. You -- you've saved us. You've done it!}" (OVER.MSG) Failing water chip The events of Fallout begin after Vault 13's only water chip breaks, and the only means to compensate for the diminishing water supplies is to leave and find a new chip. The original Vault Dweller, although not the first to be picked for the task, is sent on a quest to find a replacement in 2161. After encountering many people and places in the wastes of southern California, he finds a suitable replacement chip in Vault 12, the vault underneath the Necropolis, and returns it to Vault 13. Ironically, due to a mix-up with shipping orders, Vault 8 received the additional water chips that Vault 13 had ordered in place of their second allotted Garden of Eden Creation Kit, which went to Vault 13.Vault City central computer: "{241}{}{Cross-reference the GECK shipment information.}" "{244}{}{Due to a shipping error, it appears Vault 8 received a box of surplus water chips intended for another Vault. The other Vault most likely received Vault 8's second GECK.}" (VICENCOM.MSG) Characteristics Despite being referred to as a chip, the in-game visuals of the device, both the 3D rendering and the background circuit diagram, indicate that it is built entirely using thermionic valves, not even discrete transistors, in the traditional style of such 50s technology, as a metal box chassis with protruding glass vacuum tubes; the "chip" may not actually contain any silicon at all. The name is also slightly misleading in that the chip itself does not produce or process water, but controls other equipment that does. Locations * Vault 12's command center, in a computer. * One can be found in a locked footlocker in Vault 13. * A grand total of 420 chips can be found on the second floor of Vault 8, in crates in certain rooms that can only be opened with a high Lockpick or Strength. Behind the scenes * Technically, the water chip is not a chip at all. The term is reserved for devices using integrated circuits, an invention that has never really caught on by 2077, printed on circuit boards. The water "chip" is a large processing unit built on a full metal chassis with thermionic vacuum tubes. * The blueprint shown in the background of the intro is actually a schematic diagram for a Moog synthesizer.RPG Codex interview with Leonard Boyarsky * In Fallout 2, the Guardian of Forever special encounter allows the player character to break the water chip and set the events of Fallout in motion.